Indulging in chocolate on a Swiss visit

For chocolate lovers, Switzerland is a truly sweet vacation spot, with any number of tours, tastings and classes.

In the southern Gruyère district, the chocolate factory Cailler's Atelier de Chocolate studio is home to weekly classes from April to October. One-day sessions teach making truffles or filled chocolates and even chocolate bars in a class designed for children. Classes for adults cost $65. Courses are listed on the website about a month in advance (cailler.ch).

You can make it a real chocolate vacation by taking the Swiss Chocolate Train. From June through October, the train, with a vintage Pullman and cars with panoramic views, runs select days of the week. It departs from Montreux and includes stops at a cheese dairy and the Gruyères Castle before arriving at Cailler (800-622-8600, mob.ch).

After your class, stay for a free tour of the factory. (The tour by itself is available for $11.)

Other popular chocolate tours include Alprose in

Caslano-Lugano. For $3.50, visitors can see the production from start to finish, indulge in a tasting and learn all about chocolate at an on-site museum (alprose.ch).

At Maestrani in Flawi, guided tours take visitors inside Schoggi Land, where they watch the chocolate production from an overhead gallery. Tours are offered in English most Wednesdays for $8 a person (maestrani.ch).

The best way to really get your fill of Swiss chocolate is to time your visit for March or April. More than 20 chocolatiers come together for the one-day Versoix Chocolate Festival on Lake Geneva. Free sampling is encouraged, and, for a small fee, visitors can watch various chocolate techniques at workshops (versoix .ch/festivalduchocolat).

Nearby, the Favarger chocolate factory, founded in 1826, also offers free guided tours.

The way to literally wrap up your chocolate indulgence is with a stop at the After the Rain Spa in Geneva (afterthe rain.ch). This day spa offers chocolate-based treatments, including a 45-minute, $158 chocolate euphoria wrap made of cream, milk and chocolate powder.

Couples also can slip into a 30-minute chocolate and whipped cream bath as part of the $396 "Je t'aime moi non plus" package.

And with more than 200 chocolate shops, according to Swiss National Tourist Office, it's easy to bring home a few chocolate souvenirs when your trip is over.